Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when its Plan for Action on Alcohol Misuse will be published and which organisations and interested parties were consulted in the preparation of the plan.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issued a consultation paper on a national Plan for Action on Alcohol Misuse to approximately 160 interested organisations and networks in February 2001. The consultation paper gives a full list of those consulted and is held by the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 11112). The Executive also arranged separate consultations with children and young people and alcohol misusers and their families. We expect to publish the Plan for Action  by the end of the year.

Charity Law

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish its response to the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission report of May 2001.

Mr Jim Wallace: We invited comments on the report’s recommendations when it was published and the consultation period expired on 30 September.

  Initial indications from the consultation are that while the majority of respondents are content that the report of the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission correctly identifies current difficulties in the charitable sector, the solutions it suggests may require some refining before implementation. To do this we need to ensure that the voluntary sector and other key agencies have input to the development of both the policy and the legislation required to take forward the recommendations. We have therefore decided to set up a national advisory forum chaired by a senior official of the Justice Department on the implementation of the review of charity law. This will include representatives of the voluntary sector, key professionals, the existing regulatory bodies and officials. This advisory forum will take an overview of implementation issues and in particular advise us on the interaction between the Social Economy Review and the Charity Law Review. We also hope that it will be able to take on board the outcome of the Cabinet Office’s Performance and Innovation Unit’s review of the voluntary sector initiated earlier this year.

  The advisory forum will have three sub-groups, consisting partly of key members of the groups itself, and partly of additional members having expertise in specific areas. These sub-groups will concentrate on the three areas of implementation – the definition of "charity"; the role and functions of CharityScotland; and the regulation of public charitable collections. The composition of the main group and of the three sub-groups will be announced in November.

  We expect to publish a full response to the consultation once the advisory forum has completed its deliberations.

Dental Care

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether single drug sedation only may be used in general dental practice and, if so, whether such use is in accordance with the proposals outlined in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) draft guideline on the safe sedation of children.

Susan Deacon: Yes. Since 13 August 2001 only single drug use is allowed for sedation in general dental practice in Scotland. This is in line with the SIGN document, but as this document is only in a draft format, any direct comparisons are currently inappropriate.

Dental Care

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in the light of the report by the Scottish Health Boards’ Dental Epidemiological Programme, Dental Health of 12-year-olds in Greater Glasgow 2000-01 , that 60% of 12-year-olds examined in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area were found to have already experienced decay penetrating beyond the enamel surface of the teeth.

Susan Deacon: The Action Plan for Dental Services, which was launched in August 2000, included a number of initiatives aimed at improving children’s oral health. As well as a range of initiatives affecting pre-school children, the caries prevention scheme, aimed at young children, and including the fissure sealing of permanent molars, will be launched shortly. The new caries prevention scheme should in due course have a direct impact on dental disease in 12-year-olds by protecting the most vulnerable teeth in the most vulnerable children before the disease begins.

Fertility Treatment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is undertaking any reviews of the level of funding devoted to infertility issues and, if so, when the outcome of these reviews will be published.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is not undertaking any review of the level of funding for infertility services in Scotland.

Fertility Treatment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a full range of treatments for infertility will be available in each health board area.

Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-18296 on 4 October 2001.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) sheep, (b) cattle, (c) pigs and (d) other animals in (i) Scotland, (ii) Dumfries and Galloway and (iii) Scottish BORDERs have been slaughtered under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Ross Finnie: The Intervention Board Executive Agency operates the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme on behalf of all UK Agriculture Ministers. The Intervention Board advise me that (a) 40,808 sheep, (b) 10,558 cattle, (c) 45,972 pigs and (d) nine other animals have been slaughtered and compensation has been paid in Scotland. In Dumfries and Galloway, (a) 4,113 sheep, (b) 1,585 cattle and (c) 29 pigs have been slaughtered and compensation paid. In the BORDERs, (a) 3,539 sheep, (b) 609 cattle and (c) 544 pigs have been slaughtered and compensation paid.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the (a) sheep, (b) cattle, (c) pigs and (d) other animals slaughtered in Scotland under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease were on farms (i) subject and (ii) not subject to Form A or D notices.

Ross Finnie: The Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme is run, on behalf of UK Agriculture Ministers, by the Intervention Board Executive Agency. The Intervention Board advise me that they carry out checks on the disease status of holdings at several stages of applications to the scheme but do not keep statistics on farm status, which can change between application and collection.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17754 by Ross Finnie on 20 September 2001, when and in what form it will publish detailed information on the likely causes and contacts which resulted in the subsequent spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Dumfries and Galloway and the BORDERs following the first outbreak recorded on 1 March 2001 at the farm run by C M Kirkpatrick, Nether Place, Dryesdale, Lockerbie.

Ross Finnie: Issues relating to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland are covered by the terms of reference of the Inquiries of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Both these bodies are completely independent of the Scottish Executive and will report to their respective councils, after which their findings will be made publicly available. The Scottish Executive itself has no plans to publish detailed information on the causes and spread of the disease.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider recognising rural health as a separate speciality in the undergraduate curriculum for medical students.

Susan Deacon: The content of the undergraduate medical curriculum is a matter for the General Medical Council (GMC), which is a body independent of government. Currently the GMC recommends that each university cover a core curriculum, encompassing the essential knowledge and skills and the appropriate attitudes to be acquired by the time of graduation. In addition, the core curriculum should be augmented by a series of special study modules, which allow students to study areas of particular interest. While it will not be possible or appropriate for all medical schools to provide training in rural health, it is already open to students and schools to access and provide this training on an individual basis.

  The GMC is reviewing its recommendations regarding undergraduate medical education at present and the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland represents the Scottish Executive’s interests.

  In addition, the Scottish Executive is working with a range of organisations, including the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI), to develop measures to support and improve health care in rural areas. This includes RARARI’s exploration of the scope for developing a multi-professional Faculty of Rural Health Care.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Clinical Resource and Audit Group are conducting an inquiry into methadone deaths and, if so, when any inquiry report will be published.

Susan Deacon: The Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG) is funding a national confidential inquiry into methadone related deaths.

  The inquiry report will be published once it has been reviewed and approved by the Clinical Effectiveness Programmes Sub-Group of CRAG.

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide a "diagnostic centre" for children who are believed to have some form of autistic spectrum disorder, dyspraxia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has no such plans.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional sittings of the High Court of Justiciary were requisitioned by the Lord Advocate in terms of section 2(2) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 in the year up to 31 August 2001 and the two previous years.

Neil Davidson QC: This information is not readily available.

  However, in the year to 31 August 2001, the planned programme of five courts at the High Court in Glasgow and two courts at the High Court in Edinburgh has been supplemented by the regular use of additional courts as and when required by the Crown. The programme for the year 2002 provides for two courts at Glasgow and three at Edinburgh, throughout the year.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have been held with the Glasgow High Court users’ group on the allocation of resources for first instance criminal work in the High Court in Glasgow.

Neil Davidson QC: The user group is primarily concerned with the management of sittings of the High Court in Glasgow. It provides for an exchange of views among users, some of whom are Scottish Executive officials. But there is no direct discussion between the group on the one hand and say justiciary on the other.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the efficiency of disposing of business at sittings of the High Court of Justiciary.

Neil Davidson QC: The disposal of business within sittings of the High Court of Justiciary is reviewed each month on the basis of the available figures.

  The efficiency of disposal of cases at the High Court has additionally been the subject of a specific joint review by officials of the Justice Department of the Scottish Executive and of the Crown Office. Consideration is presently being given to the optimum way of conducting a more comprehensive review of High Court business.

NHS Waiting Lists

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in partnership with South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust to reduce waiting times for hip replacement operations in the Trust’s area.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive set out in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change our commitment to work with NHSScotland to reduce waiting through increased investment and improved working practices. Reductions in waiting times are a priority for the new NHS boards. I understand that NHS Greater Glasgow is currently working to develop and improve orthopaedic services across its area.

Regulation of Care

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers will have responsibility for the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Scottish Social Services Council, established under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

Henry McLeish: The Minister for Health and Community Care will have responsibility for the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, and the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs for the Scottish Social Services Council. Clearly, the remits of the two bodies are inter-related, and the sponsoring ministers will liase closely with each other and with other relevant ministers, and will have regular joint meetings with the Conveners and Chief Executives of the two bodies.

Scottish Executive Buildings

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18217 by Ross Finnie on 1 October 2001, whether any consultations were undertaken with the local farming communities concerning the closure of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department area offices in Dundee and Forfar.

Ross Finnie: As I have previously indicated, there were no formal consultations with local farming communities about the rationalisation of the department’s agricultural offices.

Scottish Executive Buildings

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18218 by Ross Finnie on 1 October 2001, what the annual financial savings will be to its Environment and Rural Affairs Department from closing its area office in Dundee.

Ross Finnie: As I have previously indicated, keeping the Dundee Office open would incur additional annual running costs of around £110,000.

Scottish Executive Buildings

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in its Environment and Rural Affairs Department area offices in (a) Stirling, (b) Dundee and (c) Forfar in each of the past three years.

Ross Finnie: Staff complements in the three offices in each of the past three years were as follows:

  


 


1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Stirling 
  

18 
  

19 
  

25 
  



Dundee 
  

28 
  

29 
  

31 
  



Forfar 
  

2 
  

2 
  

2 
  



  The staff in the Forfar Office are DEFRA employees.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of any television advertising it has undertaken since 1 July 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The cost of television advertising undertaken by the Scottish Executive since 1 July 1999 to date is shown in the following table.

  


Year 
  

Campaign 
  

Amount 
  



1999 
  

Domestic Abuse 
  

£346,941 
  



Fire Prevention 
  

£143,753 
  



Road Safety 
  

£508,638 
  



Historic Scotland 
  

£146,147 
  



2000 
  

Domestic Abuse 
  

£359,072 
  



Census 
  

£252,126 
  



Flu Campaign 
  

£772,790 
  



Alcohol Abuse 
  

£415,000 
  



Organ Donation 
  

£22,075 
  



Road Safety 
  

£949,309 
  



Historic Scotland 
  

£290,000 
  



2001 
  

Census 
  

£372,291 
  



Road Safety 
  

£164,500 
  



Travel Awareness 
  

£404,375 
  



Environment 
  

£640,576 
  



Flu Campaign 
  

£35,458 
  



Children’s Hearings 
  

£33,805 
  



Teacher Recruitment 
  

£78,905 
  



Total 
  

£5,936,391

Sexual Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to develop a sexual health strategy for Scotland, following the Health Education Board for Scotland’s report Teenage Sexuality in Scotland , published in 2000.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has commissioned further research from the Health Education Board for Scotland to inform the development of a sexual health strategy. This is due to be completed next month.

Smoking

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what smoking reduction initiatives it introduced prior to 31 July 2001 and what further initiatives are or were planned for launch between 1 August 2001 and the end of the current parliamentary session.

Susan Deacon: As announced in the White Paper Smoking Kills , the Executive is providing £8 million over three years for smoking cessation and prevention activities. This supports a range of initiatives including health board cessation services. Other Executive initiatives prior to July 2001 included the launch of the Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places, a review by the Lord Advocate of guidance on the use of children in test purchasing exercises, and support of pilot youth card schemes in Glasgow and Angus. Delivery of health education and promotion activities through Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) includes mass media advertising – for example the successful Blue sticks and Stinx campaigns and Smokeline.

  We have also made NRT and Zyban available on prescription and targeted a proportion of the Health Improvement Fund to enable a stepping up of smoking cessation and prevention activities.

  1 August 2001 onwards:

  The Executive will continue to provide funding support for smoking cessation services and to HEBS for health education and promotion activities. Specific measures include the recently launched anti-smoking advertising campaign (Alien) targeted at young people, and further development of Smokeline to provide services to pregnant smokers and ethnic minority groups. A smoking cessation resource pack for health professionals, the development of health education and smoking cessation services for school-age children and a campaign to raise awareness of the risks of passive smoking are also in preparation. We will also continue to look at ways to improve enforcement of underage sales of tobacco. We will continue to support the activities of ASH Scotland. The Executive will continue to press the UK Government for the early reintroduction of a UK Bill to ban tobacco advertising and promotion.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources were made available for the care of people with learning disabilities in each year since 1995.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information about the expenditure on community care services for adults with learning disabilities and on children generally is contained in Tables 7.1 to 7.3 of Scottish Community Care Statistics 2000 published by the Scottish Executive in July 2001. A copy of this document is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 15335).

  Information about expenditure on services specifically for children with learning disabilities is not held centrally.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is currently available for teachers with regard to dealing with children with special educational needs.

Mr Jack McConnell: There is a wide variety of training available for qualified teachers, ranging from university courses such as the Post-graduate diploma in Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the Post-graduate certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) to courses/conferences/seminars run by local authorities, colleges and voluntary agencies in language and communication, moving and handling and Individualised Educational Programmes.

  Before qualifying, components within the core of courses of initial teacher education (ITE) consist, where appropriate, of inter-related units in special educational needs. Guidelines for initial teacher education in Scotland require teacher education institutions (TEIs) to prepare prospective teachers to be responsive to the needs of all pupils in respect of SEN. In line with the guidelines, teaching pupils with SEN is also an option for specialist study within Bachelor of Education primary courses.

  The Report of the First Stage of the Review of ITE made two recommendations on special educational needs, these being;

  Students should be provided by their overall ITE programmes with clear models of best practice in collaborative approaches which can benefit children with SEN, and which can support classroom teachers in a better understanding of their own role, and

  TEIs should offer visits to schools specifically to enrich the ITE experience of SEN (given the variability of placement experience) subject to appropriate safeguards for the dignity of the children involved.

  The consultation on the report recently ended and responses are currently being analysed. An Action Plan to implement the work on this report will follow shortly and a copy of this will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Special Educational Needs

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to education authorities on permitting children with dyspraxia, autistic spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to be exempted from foreign languages study.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive has not issued guidance to exempt pupils with these special educational needs from foreign language study. Scottish ministers are committed to taking forward entitlement to language learning for all children and young people. Whether or not particular pupils with special educational needs study foreign languages is a matter for the pupils, parents and school to consider.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what codes governed the procedures used in the recent appointment of chairperson to the proposed Scottish Water.

Ross Finnie: The prospective Chair of the proposed Scottish Water was identified through procedures in line with guidance from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements will be placed on chairpersons of the proposed Scottish Water with regard to attendance at meetings and other official engagements.

Ross Finnie: The normal expectation would be that the chairperson would be absent from board meetings only in exceptional circumstances.

  The Water Industry (Scotland) Bill proposes a power for Scottish ministers to remove a non-executive member of the board, if that member has been absent from meetings of Scottish Water for a period longer than three months without the permission of Scottish Water.

  As far as other meetings and official engagements are concerned, it will be a key role of the chairperson to keep in regular contact with stakeholders, and to play a representative role for Scottish Water throughout Scotland.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remuneration package is of the post of chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water.

Ross Finnie: No appointment can be made until Parliament has approved the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill. As announced on 8 August, ministers intend that the initial appointment should be remunerated at a daily rate of £385, for three days a week in the first year, and for two days a week in the subsequent two years. There will also be pension entitlement equivalent to that currently available to existing water authority chairs.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of the chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water.

Ross Finnie: The Chair will be responsible for leading the board of Scottish Water, which will have specific responsibility for:

  establishing the overall strategic direction of Scottish Water within the policies and resources framework agreed with the responsible minister;

  ensuring the delivery of planned results by monitoring performance against agreed objectives and targets, and

  ensuring that high standards of corporate governance are observed at all times.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when and where the vacancy for chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water was advertised.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17768, in which I made clear that the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments gave prior approval to a closed competition for the prospective chairmanship of Scottish Water. There were, therefore, no advertisements for the post.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water declared any interests on being appointed and, if so, what those interests were.

Ross Finnie: No appointment can be made until Parliament approves the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill. The candidate identified as ministers’ preferred choice for appointment, Professor Alan Alexander, declared no interests in the relevant section of his application.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were used to select candidates for the (a) initial and (b) final shortlists for the post of chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water.

Ross Finnie: No shortlisting took place. As agreed with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments, all three chairs of the existing water authorities were invited to apply and were interviewed.

Water Authority

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what special expertise, knowledge and experience in relation to the water service industry the chairperson of the proposed Scottish Water is required to have.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were used to select the successful candidate for the recent vacancy of chairperson to the proposed Scottish Water and who carried out the interview.

Ross Finnie: The interview panel consisted of:

  John Graham, Head of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

  Andrew Cubie, Senior Partner, Fyfe Ireland WS (Independent Assessor)

  Deirdre Hutton, Chair, National Consumer Council (Independent Assessor).

  Candidates were assessed on their ability to demonstrate the following qualities and experience:

  A comprehensive and realistic understanding of the challenges facing the Scottish water industry in an increasingly competitive environment, and a clear vision of how they should be addressed in the interest of customers;

  a commitment to provide leadership to the new authority as a sustainable, competitive public sector organisation;

  ability to develop a constructive working relationship with ministers and their officials;

  an ability to communicate effectively with, and listen to, all stakeholders and to represent the organisation – media skills, presentation skills, experience of public meetings;

  an ability to harness the skills of, inspire and motivate board members in the interests of the authority;

  a track record in setting challenging targets for the authority’s executive management and monitoring progress against them;

  a commitment to support executive management in their role, and a willingness to challenge their decisions and recommendations;

  a track record in securing the use of resources to their best advantage, achieving value for money;

  willingness to encourage innovation in business development, and

  a good understanding of strategic business planning and how it should be applied in a public sector business.